‘Serious crash’ leads to road closures and traffic delays on major road

The UK’s busiest railway station is set to be closed for eight days over the Christmas period causing travel misery for thousands of people.

Network Rail has confirmed that London Liverpool Street station will be closed from Christmas Day until January 2 for works on the station.

It means delays and cancellations for people looking to visit loved ones or return home following the festive celebrations.

The station closure means Greater Anglia trains – including the Stansted Express – will be diverted via Stratford, which will be used as the train company’s London terminus.

You can check what other London stations are impacted below as well.

There is heavy traffic this afternoon in a large part of north London after a serious crash this morning.

BBC London has reported that the A406 in Chingford remains closed eastbound from Cooks Ferry to Hall Lane.

This means there is chaos on this road and also the A10 which is one of the major roads which heads out of London.

Check below for the latest update on this.

After hours of travel misery, the M65 has now fully reopened in the Lancashire area, National Highways’ northwest branch says.

‘There are no significant delays on approach,’ the agency said on X.

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TfL says that after the agency was hit by a cyber security incident, its Oyster photocard website has gone down. Now TfL can’t process any new applications, it said in a notice.

This applies to Zip cards, used by young people aged 11-17, which entitle the holder to free bus and tram travel and half-price Tube and rail fares.

The cards would normally have expired on September 30 but because TfL suspended online applications, TfL and National Rail say they’ll be usable on its services until the end of the month.

Youngsters should show their photocards to train station staff when boarding or to tram revenue inspectors.

A large stretch of the M65 in both directions remains closed in Lancashire.

The warning from highway officials doesn’t indicate when normal traffic conditions are expected, simply warning motorists to ‘expect delays’.

But Motorway Cameras, a traffic monitoring service, says that things should empty out from about 5pm onwards.

A massive pothole on the M25 has taken at least 20 cars out of commission today, leaving a row of broken vehicles lining the hard shoulder during rush hour with their hazard lights on.

Parents with young children and taxi drivers picking people up from Heathrow airport were left stranded between Staines and Chertsey after they fell victim to the enormous hole which was ‘hidden by darkness’ in the middle of the road.

National Highways warned motorists just after 7am there were 40-minute delays and five miles of queues as two lanes were shut between junction 12 and 13 to repair the defect. 

Read more about our story here.

National Rail has now provided more details after a person was hit by a train earlier this morning.

All lines are blocked between Victoria and Beckenham Junction while the emergency services are at the scene.

It’s affecting Southeastern services between London Victoria and Ramsgate, Orpington, Dover Priory or Ashford International.

A spokesperson said: ‘The emergency services and response teams are on site, and power to the railway has been switched off to allow them to access the railway.

‘Trains may be cancelled, revised or diverted. Disruption is expected until approximately 2pm.’

These routes via Bromley South are now using an alternative route:

• London Victoria to Ramsgate / Dover Priory via Chatham
• London Victoria to Ashford via Maidstone East

You may use your ticket at no extra cost on the following:

• London Buses via any reasonable route
• London Underground between London Victoria and Brixton

RyanAir has released its September traffic figures and it looks like the airline had a pretty busy September.

They flew 19.1million customers to their destinations last month on more than 106,000 flights, a 10% increase on September 2023 which saw 17.4million guests.

Metro has got in touch with RyanAir to find out more about the reasons behind that significant increase.

Very sad news coming in this morning as a person has been hit by a train between Victoria and Beckenham Junction.

Trains between Victoria and Bromley South are being delayed by this, and could be cancelled or diverted.

There isn’t much information available yet, but here is the latest from Southeastern:

All lanes have now reopened clockwise on the M25 between junction 24 for Potters Barr and junction 25 for Waltham Cross.

However there is still more than eight miles of congestion in the area.

Drivers are still facing delays of more than 90 minutes and National Highways warns it could take some time for the queues to clear.

There’s been another crash on the M25, this time on the clockwise carriageway between junction 24 for Potters Barr and junction 25 for Waltham Cross.

Emergency services are at the scene and three out of four lanes have been closed while they deal with the incident.

There are about seven miles of congestion on the approach and drivers are being delayed by about an hour.

There have been a few delays at Gatwick Airport this morning – here are the latest details.

Departures

10.10 EasyJet EZY8743 to Hurghada – delayed until 11.40

10.40 Iberia IB4679 to Orlando – delayed until 11.11

10.40 British Airways BA2037 to Orlando – delayed until 11.11

Arrivals

12.00 EasyJet EZY8050 from Corvera – expected 12.46

12.35 Emirates EK015 from Dubai – expected 12.54

The M25 has now reopened fully anti-clockwise after emergency repairs needed to be carried over two lanes.

The closure was in place between junction 13 for Staines and junction 12 for the M3.

However there are still delays of around 40 minutes on the approach, with about five miles of congestion backing up.

Eastbound – hollow circle diversion symbols

• Leave M65 at J8
• At M65 J8 roundabout take the third exit onto the A56 southbound
• Leave the A56 at the A56/A679 junction
• At the A56/A679 eastern roundabout take the 1st exit onto the A679 eastbound Accrington Road
• At the A679/Bentley Wood Way Roundabout take the second exit onto the A679 Accrington Road
• At the A679/A671 roundabout take the first exit onto the A671 northbound Cavalry Way
• At the A671 M65 J10 roundabout take the second exit and re-join the M65

Westbound – solid diamond diversion symbols

• Exit M65 J10
• At J10/A671 junction turn left onto the A671 southbound Cavalry Way
• At A671/A679 roundabout take third exit onto A679 Accrington Way
• At A679/Bentley Wood Way roundabout take second exit onto the A679 Accrington Way
• At A679/A56 junction continue straight through first roundabout
• At second roundabout take third exit to join A56 north
• At A56/M65 J8 take first exit and re-join M65

The District line is still part suspended between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road due to the ongoing points failure.

TfL is asking people to switch to the Circle line to complete their journey instead, plus London Underground tickets will be accepted on South Western Railway and local buses.

There are still minor delays between High Street Kensington and Wimbledon due to a late finish to engineering work at East Putney, but these delays have improved throughout the morning.

Currently there is good service on all other London Underground and Overground lines.

The eastbound carriageway has two out of three lanes blocked between junction 24 for Huddersfield and 25 for Brighthouse.

Traffic officers are at the scene.

Drivers are being delayed by around 70 minutes, with about five miles of congestion on approach.

Trains are having to run at a reduced speed on some lines, affecting services between Luton, St Albans City or West Hampstead Thameslink to Sutton.

If you are travelling between Tulse Hill and Wimbledon you can continue to use your normal route but your journey may take up to 15 minutes longer than usual.

Trains will now call at all stations on this route.

Southern are working to return to their scheduled timetable, but please continue to check journey planners and station information boards before you travel. Trains currently in the area may still be disrupted.

If you are travelling to or from these stations you will need to use an alternative route to reach your destination, and your ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on:

• Alternative Thameslink or Southern Rail services including between Sutton and central London
• London Buses on routes between Wimbledon and Mitcham Junction, including via Haydons Road and Tooting

There are delays between Birmingham Moor Street and Tyseley caused by a broken down train this morning.

The train has since been moved and lines have reopened, but passengers can still expect delays of up to half an hour.

This is affecting Chiltern Railways and West Midlands Trains services and could last until nearly 9am.